“It was a very difficult decision to make, considering the
inconvenience this would cause to the schedule of fighters and
fans, so we want to apologize to [everyone],” said GSI’s Pierre
Andurand in a written statement.

“However, we decided to do this because of our strong conviction
that a combined show would be the best format for the fighters and
fans, because everyone can be together at one time. It'll generate
a lot of positive energy for the Japanese fight industry and for
fight fans around the world.”

In making the mega event, the show’s official title will also see a
change to “Dream 18 & Glory 4: New Year’s Eve Special 2012.”
According to former Dream event producer and current spokesman
Keiichi Sasahara, the card composition is projected to contain
seven to nine MMA bouts alongside a 15-fight heavyweight kickboxing
tournament, kicking off at 4 p.m. local time in Japan and ending at
the stroke of midnight. No new matchups were announced, but both
Sasahara and Golden Glory’s Bas Boon claimed that weekly fight
announcements would begin soon.

“I witnessed the high times of the fighting sports in Japan with
the peak in 2003, when there were three New Year’s Eve events on
one night. Our goal is to have the best of those three events of
that time, to be presented now in one mega event in Saitama Super
Arena,” said Boon. “[From] the feedback from the fighters
participating on Dec. 2, they also were asking if they could
participate on New Year’s Eve, which is a tradition in Japan.
Combining two shows, we can allow everyone to fight at the Saitama
Super Arena, which is a very prestigious [venue].”

Regarding the event’s international broadcast, GSI director Marcus
Luer claims that details are still being worked out. For its part,
Glory’s international partners will likely carry the Dream and GSI
co-promoted card, but North American broadcast plans in particular
have yet to be decided.

“I’m pretty confident we’ll have large distribution around the
world and I’d love to tell you right now who it will be [with] in
the U.S. I can’t tell you yet, but I’ll be in the U.S. next week,
meeting a whole bunch of broadcasters, and I’m quite confident I’ll
have a good announcement on that soon,” said Luer to
Sherdog.com.

Japanese broadcast plans have also yet to be decided, though
long-time premium cable partner Skyperfect Television will host the
event domestically, with Dream’s Sasahara citing the format likely
being a free undercard leading into a pay-per-view event. Despite
GSI’s expressed aims to rejuvenate the Japanese fight scene by
merging both shows, this year’s “double event” makes it much like
previous years’ Dynamite!! series, in effect providing Japanese
fans an unbroken continuum of kickboxing and MMA events on New
Year’s Eve. Presently, only Strikeforce and Pride veteran Tatsuya
Kawajiri, Dream featherweight champion Hiroyuki
Takaya, and former Sengoku lightweight champion Satoru
Kitaoka have been announced as participating in MMA bouts.